Alcoa delivers answers to wellness issues raised in the video forum
Posted at 12:01 AM on Sunday, March 26, 2023
By Chris Miller
Stanley News & Press
Following a video forum final week featuring former Alcoa workers who raised the alarm more than buried hazardous waste across the town of Badino, Alcoa presented answers to concerns from the Stanley News & Press.
As for issues about wellness issues former workers seasoned, like cancer and asbestosis, linked to prolonged exposure to hazardous waste, Shannon Debes, manager of external affairs at Alcoa Transformation, stated the corporation, which opened its plant for aluminum smelting in Badin in 1917, “is actively functioning to resolve stakeholder difficulties associated to our former Badin operations, like these of our former personnel.”
“The smelter has been closed for extra than 15 years, and considering the fact that then and just before, we have worked closely with state and federal regulators to determine possible waste websites and help environmental and human protection,” Debes added.
The on-web page landfills “have undergone considerable remedial measures considering the fact that closure and are regularly maintained and monitored,” she continued. “Possible dangers to human wellness and the atmosphere have been addressed, as evidenced by investigations and remedial actions overseen by state environmental regulators.” We continue to monitor stormwater and groundwater about the former factory web page and stay committed to defending water good quality.”
Numerous organizations, like Concerned Citizens of West Badin, Southern Environmental Law Center, Safeguard Badin Lake, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Duke University’s Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, lobbied for Alcoa to clean up the hazardous waste websites. Contaminants from these websites, such as cyanide and fluoride, continue to seep into nearby bodies of water, like Badin Lake.
They also sought other modifications to Alcoa’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Method (NPDES), which it reapplied for final year, like monitoring a broader variety of pollutants, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs) and heavy metals, and the removal of discharge points in the quick vicinity of public bathing locations, such as discharges 012 and 013.
Debes stated Alcoa “frequently meets with a variety of neighborhood organizations to share data and solicit feedback at our quarterly neighborhood meetings that consist of the Yadkin Riverkeeper and other individuals.”
As element of these meetings, “we assessment the function we have completed and the ongoing monitoring associated to the prior operation of the facility.” We have also engaged in a facilitated stakeholder approach with interested groups and will continue to engage with these who would like to discover extra about our environmental and neighborhood activities.”
The video forum, titled “Toxic Land, Poisoned Water: The Legacy of Environmental Injustice and Racism in a North Carolina Enterprise Town,” was hosted by the Reimagining America Project, a grassroots organization that utilizes testimony, testimony, and redemption to fight systemic racism.